What is the purpose of the Community Emergency Hub?
A Community Emergency Hub is a place for the community to gather and help each other during and after an emergency.
After a large-scale emergency, such as a major flooding event, emergency services will be dealing with the most urgent call outs, so the people you live nearest to will be your most immediate, and ongoing, source of support. We will all have to pitch in and help each other.
We know that communities naturally come together to connect, share their stories about their experience, find out information about what’s happening in your suburb, offer skills, resources and assistance to those who need it, and look for assistance.
Community Emergency Hubs are pre-identified, community-led places that can support a community to coordinate their efforts to help each other during and after an emergency. Community Emergency Hubs will be opened and operated by people within the community, not official authorities, when there is a desire for the community to help itself. Auckland Emergency Management can advise and work with communities who wish to pre-identify a place, such as a church, sports club or hall, and plan to set up and operate a Community Emergency Hub after an emergency.
What will I find at a Community Emergency Hub?
The Hub is run by people like you in your local community without official assistance. Each Hub has a guide for how to coordinate the sharing of information, skills and resources that exist in your community.
The local community may have stored a small amount of equipment (eg VHF radio in case the phone and internet networks aren't working) and resources at the Hubs. However, our communities are full of beds with blankets on them and pantries with food in them to get through the first week after an emergency. Your community can gather the things it needs at the time by working together.
How is a Community Emergency Hub run?
Community members run a Hub without official assistance - it's essentially a place for neighbours to help each other in a coordinated way. Each Hub has a Hub Guide which explains how to organise an emergency response and describes the different roles needed.
AEM works with interested communities to practise how they would respond to a significant emergency and help the people they live nearest to get through even some of the most challenging issues.
